This invention relates generally to a carburetor for an engine and more particularly to a carburetor with an apparatus for removing fuel from a float bowl of the carburetor.
Float bowl carburetors are generally known in the art and include a body that is mounted on an engine or intake manifold. Float bowl carburetors generally include a fuel and air mixing passage and a fuel inlet passage to allow fuel into the carburetor. Air is supplied to the mixing passage through an air filter of an air cleaner on an air inlet side of the carburetor. The carburetor generally has a float regulated fuel supply chamber or bowl that is attached to the carburetor body. The float assembly is connected to a metering valve assembly which allows fuel to enter the bowl and maintains a substantially constant pressure of fuel within the bowl.
During the manufacturing process, engines having carburetors are usually tested before installation into a device. During such testing, fuel is supplied to the carburetor for operation of the engine. The testing is often performed at a site that is remote from the actual assembly of the engine into the completed device. Therefore, excess fuel that typically remains within the float bowl needs to be removed prior to shipment of the engine and pre-mounted carburetor to a manufacturing facility for the device.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a system which removes unused or excess fuel from a carburetor after testing and prior to shipment. The fuel removal system should be sealable after testing to prevent subsequent leakage or seepage of fuel from the carburetor when the engine is installed and used in a device. The fuel removal system should be relatively simple and should not require significant quantities of parts or operational steps in a manufacturing process.
A fuel removal system for a carburetor, with a float bowl carried by a body of the carburetor, has a fuel outlet tube is received in a passage in the body. The fuel outlet tube is movable from a first position, communicating with a fuel pickup tube with an inlet adjacent the bottom of the float bowl, to a second position closing off communication with and sealing the pick up tube from the outlet tube. Preferably and at least when moved to the second position, the outlet tube is press fit in the body to provide a permanent closure and seal. The fuel removal system also has few parts, is a simple design which is economical to manufacture and assemble, requires no maintenance in service and has a long useful life.
The fuel removal system of the present invention has the advantage of providing an integrated system that does not require the use of extraneous parts such as a separate plug or other device to seal a channel between an exterior of the carburetor and the fuel bowl.
The fuel removal system of the present invention has the further advantage of providing a fuel removal system that simplifies the required steps to be performed after an engine test is completed, as well as ensures a permanent seal of the fueel removal system after the engine has been tested.
Additionally, the fuel removal system of the present invention has the advantage of providing a sealing outlet tube that may be utilized as an extension for a vacuum connection and further used to seal the system after the fuel has been removed from the float bowl.